9 great mechanical keyboards for coders

One thing I rarely see discussed in any detail in mechanical keyboard roundups is a noise comparison. For a tool for &quot;coders&quot;, many mechanical keyboards can be pretty disruptive to your coworkers if you&#x27;re using it in a workspace without a closed door.<p>My favorite switches for typing (and thus, coding) are MX blues. Unfortunately these are also the loudest, with a distinct click at each key activation. You can purchase small rubber rings that act as dampeners on each key, but this also changes the feel of the keyboard.<p>I&#x27;d pay well for a solution that lets me have both the tactile experience I enjoy <i>and</i> the sound level I need to use a mechanical keyboard at work. Until then it&#x27;s bog-standard rubber domes for me.

No Das Keyboard?<p>How can I be leet without a blank keyboard[1].<p>(I&#x27;ve owned two standard(clicky, and silent) of them over 3 jobs and both are still going strong)<p>[1] - <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.daskeyboard.com&#x2F;daskeyboard-4-ultimate&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.daskeyboard.com&#x2F;daskeyboard-4-ultimate&#x2F;</a>

By far my favorite &quot;mechanical&quot; keyboard is the Topre Realforce 104u[0]. When I initially purchased it, I thought it was the biggest waste of money. Over the span of about a month, maybe I broke it in or maybe I just got used to it? But it essentially felt like I was typing on buttery smooth pillows. It&#x27;s not sensitive until you actually try to type on it. And it just feels so good. Like no other keyboard I&#x27;ve ever had.<p>I would honestly recommend it over every other mechanical keyboard I&#x27;ve had (blues, reds, clears, browns, the hi-profile version of the topre).<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Realforce-Keyboard-English-Layout-Xf01t0&#x2F;dp&#x2F;B00B5SEHN2&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Realforce-Keyboard-English-Layout-Xf0...</a>

The elephant in the room for most programmers in the world is the non-us layout making common PL punctuation like &#x2F;{}[]* etc convoluted faraway unergonomic combos. The world needs an extended layout with extra keys for those, approximately in the US positions.<p>Experience shows that switching between layouts is not appealing for most.

Topre switches are the best ever, and they get no love in the fervent mechanical keyboard community. It&#x27;s just &quot;cherry cherry cherry&quot; ad nauseum with the occasional model-m imitator like the ones in this article.<p>Do yourself a favor and get a Realforce keyboard. It&#x27;s typing nirvana.

I&#x27;m building one semi-based in the MS Ergo.<p>This is my layout:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.keyboard-layout-editor.com&#x2F;#&#x2F;gists&#x2F;75c4808455c07affbad9b1911c6fe6a5" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.keyboard-layout-editor.com&#x2F;#&#x2F;gists&#x2F;75c4808455c07a...</a><p>Note how it have some punctuation for coding more easily reachable.<p>I&#x27;m trying to figure out how bend it to match the MS Ergo.<p>I request a custom keycap set from <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wasdkeyboards.com&#x2F;index.php&#x2F;products&#x2F;keycap-set&#x2F;104-key-cherry-mx-keycap-set.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wasdkeyboards.com&#x2F;index.php&#x2F;products&#x2F;keycap-set&#x2F;1...</a> with custom icons, colors (for the limited set available, but enough) and text.<p>Hopefully I can start the build soon. Waiting for the plate now...

A challenge I had in choosing a mechanical keyboard was the availability of 105-key (ISO) layouts in North America, as I prefer the Canadian Multilingual layout. Apparently, such keyboards are mostly sold through European resellers, even when they&#x27;re actually made in the US (looking at you, DAS).<p>In the end, I went with a Unicomp, and I&#x27;m very happy with it.

The world needs more ergonomic and mechanical keyboards. My fingers love Mechanical but fingers and wrists love ergonomic. Kinesis is quite steep in price (500 Loonies).<p>Anyone got any favourites?

I still Love my Avant Stellar, but since they&#x27;re long out of production, this is an excellent intro to what&#x27;s available today and not hidden away on eBay.

I used to use a mechanical keyboard (blue switch), but I found it too stiff and it hurt my wrists. I switched back to Logitech K120 and couldn&#x27;t be happier.